Towards responsible food consumption
Recommendation 1786
(2007)
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 26 January 2007 (9th Sitting) (see Doc. 11010, report of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture
and Local and Regional Affairs, rapporteur: Mr Gubert). Text adopted by the Assembly on
26 January 2007 (9th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls
the Council of Europe’s revised Social Cohesion Strategy, approved
by the Committee of Ministers on 31 March 2004, which defines social
cohesion as “the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of
all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation”,
and recommends a human rights-based approach to social cohesion,
noting that the legal protection of rights must be accompanied by
determined social policy measures to ensure that everyone truly
does have access to their rights.
2. While farmers in poor countries often fail to promote their
products sufficiently to provide themselves with an adequate quality
of life, a growing number of consumers in rich countries do not
want their purchases to have ethically unacceptable effects on producers
and on the environment.
3. While consumers seek definite reassurance as to the quality
and healthy nature of foodstuffs, the retailing of such products
on a massive scale makes a direct or close link between consumers
and producers almost impossible, thereby placing small farmers in
particular at a disadvantage.
5. The Assembly also refers to the various texts it has issued
on the production and promotion of agricultural products, particularly
Recommendation 1636 (2003) on the development of organic farming,
Recommendation 1575 (2002) on the introduction of a quality label for food products
derived from hill farming and
Resolution
1419 (2005) on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
6. Responsible consumption reflects a new awareness based on
sustainable development and the ethos of responsibility in an effort
to meet the economic, social and environmental needs of human beings
today and of future generations, without overlooking the effects
of consumer choices on society and the environment.
7. Agriculture has been and remains the most common economic
activity, closely linked to a basic human need: food. Responsibility
in food consumption has specific connotations and is of special
importance. Numerous citizens’ initiatives are being developed in
this field. The consumers who are mobilising to determine where
their interests and those of producers converge, and organising
partnerships with them, are now recognised and in some cases even
supported by the public authorities.
8. The Assembly stresses that by opting for sustainable development
and an ethos of responsibility, which includes consumption, the
different economic and political players are guaranteeing lasting
economic prosperity and greater respect for the human right to health,
an adequate income and a varied, high-quality environment.
9. Fair trade is also a very particular form of responsible consumption
in so far as it takes the nature and characteristics of production
processes into account, going beyond the intrinsic quality of the
product to combine sustainable consumption, respect for human dignity
and the environment.
10. The Assembly welcomes the setting up, under the Council of
Europe’s Social Cohesion Strategy, of the European dialogue platform
on ethical and solidarity-based initiatives for combating poverty
and social exclusion, to promote dialogue between public authorities
and citizens’ organisations engaged in ethical, responsible and
solidarity-based economic initiatives.
11. The Assembly considers that citizens’ involvement in economic
issues is of the utmost interest to public authorities, as it is
gradually changing the economic system, for example by introducing
new perspectives into relations between citizens and society, citizens
and the environment, citizens and the world. This approach is particularly
noteworthy for the countries of Europe and for an organisation like
the Council of Europe, considering the values it defends and promotes.
12. It also considers that the public authorities have a duty
to alert citizens to their responsibilities as consumers, particularly
of food, as well as the other partners in the agri-food sector,
such as farmers, transporters, distributors, etc.
13. Accordingly, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of
Ministers invite the member states to:
13.1 support citizens’ initiatives involving solidarity and
partnership between producers and consumers and promote responsible
consumer behaviour and commitments;
13.2 develop dialogue and co-operation between the public authorities
and the various players involved in responsible consumption;
13.3 take legislative, regulatory and socio-economic steps
to give a strong boost to the social commitments that drive the
solidarity-based economy and develop an ethos of responsibility
in economic activity;
13.4 provide for agricultural and rural subsidies that make
better allowance for the economic, social and environmental consequences
of the different agri-food production systems;
13.5 take into account the growing public awareness of values
other than immediate economic benefit and to take steps to:
13.5.1 encourage the development of
synergy between government, companies and citizens with this new
awareness that is here to stay;
13.5.2 introduce fiscal incentives in favour of associations
and organisations engaged in the development of a solidarity-based
economy and fair trade;
13.5.3 inform consumers through information campaigns to help
them make enlightened choices, and support the campaigns of non-governmental
organisations in this endeavour;
13.5.4 encourage the networking of these initiatives and facilitate
links with other sectors of the solidarity- or citizen-based economy;
13.5.5 facilitate the establishment of “ethical banks”, more
heedful of the social and economic consequences of the bank credit
system;
13.5.6 encourage companies, especially major firms in the agri-food
and food retailing sector, to draw up “ethical balance sheets” of
their activities.
14. The Assembly also recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
14.1 support the work of the European
Committee for Social Cohesion (CDCS), and in particular that of
the European dialogue platform on ethical and solidarity-based initiatives
for combating poverty and social exclusion in carrying out its three-year
action plan. This plan is aimed at, inter alia, raising children’s
awareness, improving access to responsible consumption for the poorest
population groups, and developing links between solidarity and responsible
consumption and product information methods;
14.2 instruct the European Youth Centre to include responsible
food consumption in its efforts to develop youth participation and
democratic citizenship, social cohesion and inclusion for young
people.
